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Author Topic: COLLAPSE: A structured suggestion game about forestalling the inevitable  (Read 5014 times)

SCREE

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Reform: Revised Imperial Budget: With an bloated empire, and centuries of records, accurate bookkeeping can become quite challenging.   Run a through accounting of the income, rents, tarriffs, land, and other assets coming in, and likewise for expenditures going out. This may help find overlooked incomes, and help reveal corruption and graft.

Decrease Military: Population is power, 7 is still good for military I bet :p
+1
+1
+1
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NUKE9.13

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Turn 1 - Second Action Results

Reform: Revised Imperial Budget: With an bloated empire, and centuries of records, accurate bookkeeping can become quite challenging.   Run a through accounting of the income, rents, tarriffs, land, and other assets coming in, and likewise for expenditures going out. This may help find overlooked incomes, and help reveal corruption and graft.

Decrease Military: Population is power, 7 is still good for military I bet :p
RESULT: [Lucky] The bureaucratic apparatus that runs an empire is like a thick rug, in that it needs to be shaken out every now and again to get rid of the dust. And sometimes when you lift the rug, there's lost change underneath. And/or cockroaches. With the Regent's approval, a gathering of trusted accountants is unleashed upon the bureaucracy. They are zealous and efficient, and after a few months have produced a... well, not a perfect account of the Empire's finances, but one that is a lot better than what we had. 

In the process, a number of corrupt officials were caught red-handed, and a lot of landowners suddenly realised they'd forgotten to pay their full taxes- a 'mistake' they quickly rectified. As a result, not only do we have a much better idea of what our income is, that income is also higher than it was before the audit. (+1 Wealth)

MANUAL DECLINE: Military: Hey, it's not like we really need such a big military, right? We can afford to cut back on the number of armies in service.



Turn 2 - Year 4 in the reign of the 77th Emperor
TURNTURNTURN
[Lucky] Fortunately, the regency has been stable so far. The Regent's supporters eventually stood down, as it became clear there were no imminent challenges to his authority. The Emperor himself is now ten years old, and is being tutored by the greatest scholars in the land in all the important subjects an Emperor needs to know- poetry, calligraphy, sword rituals, Imperial etiquette, etc.

DISASTER: There's a spot of drought in the north of the Empire. A famine seems likely, although it shouldn't be too severe, and the local governors should be able to handle it.

RANDOM DECLINE: Population: An informal census, asking regional governors to estimate the population of their territories, suggests that we don't actually have as many citizens as we thought we did. Not sure how that happened. Well, what's a few million missing people compared to the vast population of the Empire?



The State of the Empire:
Population: 7
Wealth:     8
Military:   7
Technology: 7
Reputation: 7

DISASTER: Drought-caused Famine (Minor): Famine is imminent in the north. Local governors should be able to handle it.

REFORMS:
-Revived Senate (chance to avert civil wars)
-Revised Imperial Budget (makes financial reforms easier)



Choose your first action.
« Last Edit: July 17, 2023, 05:28:32 am by NUKE9.13 »
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Fluffe9911

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You know if collapse is inevitable maybe we should put effort into making the collapse as painless as possible through gradual decentralization rather than trying to save a sinking ship... meh

Reform: Disaster Relief Budget While im sure the Local Governors can deal with the current famine I propose some money and grain shall be set aside in storage for the sake of emergencies and to lessen the burden of any future disasters such as this.
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Skynet

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You know if collapse is inevitable maybe we should put effort into making the collapse as painless as possible through gradual decentralization rather than trying to save a sinking ship... meh

The Emperor himself is now ten years old, and is being tutored by the greatest scholars in the land in all the important subjects an Emperor needs to know- poetry, calligraphy, sword rituals, Imperial etiquette, etc.

Reform: Cultural Exchange - Send scholars to barbarian lands, not to conquer them, but to civilize them. Teach all the important subjects - poetry, calligraphy, sword rituals, Imperial etiquette, etc. Spread Imperial culture far and wide. So if the collapse does happen, it is only the state that collapses. Imperial societies and structures will stay intact. And if we play our cards right, maybe the barbarians may teach us the secrets of firepowder.
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Man of Paper

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That’s quitter talk.

Reform: Imperial Workforce And Relief Fund

With the population “miscalculation”, the Empire has seen fit to create a dedicated workforce and fund to ensure we have the manpower and money necessary to develop projects that’d benefit the Empire. Local governors have their taxes raised and are to provide a portion of their population for the volunteer workforce. Governors are incentivized to provide additional donations for the IWAR Fund through a “Disaster And Victimization Ensurance” Program that guarantees any project dedicated to the development of a governor’s region after some sort of disaster will use at a minimum the amount of money they have provided. Initial seeding funds are provided by Imperial coffers in order to hire the first group of workers.

The first project is the Canals And Ecological Livability Project. The CAEL Project is focused on the northern regions, and will expand waterways and dig canals while the waters are slightly lower and therefore less of an obstacle. Large reservoirs and deep wells are also dug in order to improve the population’s access to water.
« Last Edit: July 16, 2023, 03:51:54 pm by Man of Paper »
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NUKE9.13

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And if we play our cards right, maybe the barbarians may teach us the secrets of firepowder.
I'm not going to comment on the treasonous aspects of the proposal, but I will clarify that Firepowder is already known in the Empire; the Barbarians must have somehow stolen the recipe.
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chubby2man

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You know if collapse is inevitable maybe we should put effort into making the collapse as painless as possible through gradual decentralization rather than trying to save a sinking ship... meh


I think this may definitely be a viable strategy, but I don’t think we need to pick one definitive direction for the empire to evolve just yet.



That’s quitter talk.

Reform: Imperial Workforce And Relief Fund

With the population “miscalculation”, the Empire has seen fit to create a dedicated workforce and fund to ensure we have the manpower and money necessary to develop projects that’d benefit the Empire. Local governors have their taxes raised and are to provide a portion of their population for the volunteer workforce. Governors are incentivized to provide additional donations for the IWAR Fund through a “Disaster And Victimization Ensurance” Program that guarantees any project dedicated to the development of a governor’s region after some sort of disaster will use at a minimum the amount of money they have provided. Initial seeding funds are provided by Imperial coffers in order to hire the first group of workers.

The first project is the Canals And Ecological Livability Project. The CAEL Project is focused on the northern regions, and will expand waterways and dig canals while the waters are slightly lower and therefore less of an obstacle. Large reservoirs and deep wells are also dug in order to improve the population’s access to water.

+1

I think it may be a little soon to reach out to the barbarians, but I do like the idea.
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King Zultan

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Reform: Imperial Workforce And Relief Fund

With the population “miscalculation”, the Empire has seen fit to create a dedicated workforce and fund to ensure we have the manpower and money necessary to develop projects that’d benefit the Empire. Local governors have their taxes raised and are to provide a portion of their population for the volunteer workforce. Governors are incentivized to provide additional donations for the IWAR Fund through a “Disaster And Victimization Ensurance” Program that guarantees any project dedicated to the development of a governor’s region after some sort of disaster will use at a minimum the amount of money they have provided. Initial seeding funds are provided by Imperial coffers in order to hire the first group of workers.

The first project is the Canals And Ecological Livability Project. The CAEL Project is focused on the northern regions, and will expand waterways and dig canals while the waters are slightly lower and therefore less of an obstacle. Large reservoirs and deep wells are also dug in order to improve the population’s access to water.
+1
+1
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Make sure not to step on any errant blood stains before we find our LIFE EXTINGUSHER.
but anyway, if you'll excuse me, I need to commit sebbaku.
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NUKE9.13

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Turn 2 - First Action Results
TURNTURNTURN
Reform: Imperial Workforce And Relief Fund

With the population “miscalculation”, the Empire has seen fit to create a dedicated workforce and fund to ensure we have the manpower and money necessary to develop projects that’d benefit the Empire. Local governors have their taxes raised and are to provide a portion of their population for the volunteer workforce. Governors are incentivized to provide additional donations for the IWAR Fund through a “Disaster And Victimization Ensurance” Program that guarantees any project dedicated to the development of a governor’s region after some sort of disaster will use at a minimum the amount of money they have provided. Initial seeding funds are provided by Imperial coffers in order to hire the first group of workers.

The first project is the Canals And Ecological Livability Project. The CAEL Project is focused on the northern regions, and will expand waterways and dig canals while the waters are slightly lower and therefore less of an obstacle. Large reservoirs and deep wells are also dug in order to improve the population’s access to water.
RESULT: [Average] Raise taxes, draft labourers, encourage 'voluntary' additional donations, and then expand water management across a vast region? What could possibly go wrong?
The IWAR Fund runs into its first hurdle before even leaving the Imperial Court. The Regent is accused of overstepping his authority by approving these increased taxes without consulting the Emperor. Which is fair. When the Regent then attempts to get the Emperor to approve of the reform, he is accused of asking the Emperor to weigh in on a subject that goes beyond his youthful experience. Which... is also true, but somewhat contradictory to the first complaint. Eventually, the protestors are bought off by introducing tax cuts in other areas... which de facto means the IWAR Fund is almost entirely financed by the Imperial government. (-1 Wealth)

The peasantry aren't happy about being forced to volunteer, but they don't really have the power to complain in a noticeable way. I mean, their mood might be worse, but we don't even keep track of that, so who cares?

At least expanding canals and reservoirs is something people generally approve of. The Empire is famous for the grand canals constructed in ages past, and digging new ones is a perfectly respectable endeavour. A few mavericks warn that the new canals are poorly designed, and will drastically change how water flows through the region, potentially resulting in severe flooding. But by the time these warnings reach the Imperial Court, the plans have already been approved and construction has begun. It's... it's probably fine.

[Unlucky] Unfortunately, while the new reservoirs might reduce the impact of droughts in the future, they are not finished in time to alleviate the current drought. The subsequent famine is worse than expected, perhaps in part due to a lot of peasants being called away from their fields to dig canals. While not apocalyptic, significant levels of starvation seem inevitable at this point. 



The State of the Empire:
Population: 7
Wealth:     7
Military:   7
Technology: 7
Reputation: 7
Lucky Sevens: No effect, but it looks nice.
DISASTER: Drought-caused Famine (Regular): Famine has struck the north. Local governors are not able to handle it.

REFORMS:
-Revived Senate (chance to avert civil wars)
-Revised Imperial Budget (makes financial reforms easier)
-Imperial Workforce And Relief Fund (makes infrastructure expansion easier, makes peasants unhappy)
    -Northern Canals And Ecological Livability Project (increases risk of flooding, decreases risk of drought)



Choose your second action, and a stat to manually decrease.
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Man of Paper

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Perfect, all according to plan.

Quote
Disaster Relief: Civilian Wellness And Relocation

With the people of the north facing some, uh, issues, the capital has deemed it necessary to expand the city through the construction of a new residential district to house citizens looking to live somewhere with food. Citizens of working age who move from the north to the capital are guaranteed employment in the Imperial Workforce if they are not an established tradesman or merchant.

Quote
Manual Decrease: Population


Instead of slowly losing all our stats until we’re in the supremely fucked position of every stat being low, we should try to focus losses so we can focus our solutions. The things we do make us better at things we’re going to do in the future, so we should be juuuust fine if we keep engineering population crises. As long as we don’t push individual stats too low then I think we might actually have better chances at existing a little longer. Plus, if we keep funneling things into the seat of the empire then a little loss around the edges isn’t too bad, right? Playing tall is the meta!
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chubby2man

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Hmm well.

Revitalize Trade: Since the North cannot grow adequate food, food must be brought to them. Increase subsidies for grain, and reduce the tarrifs and taxes on ships that transport foodstuffs, both foreign and domestic.

Decrease: Reputation.
I oppose decreasing population. First it feels bad :p. Second is people provide all the work, all the juice behind everything else. It provides our tax base, workforce, recruits. I can easily imagine a decreasing population causing a deleterious effect on all other attributes. (Though like if pop is high to everything else I’d say decrease it then.)


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Maxine

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Hmm well.

Revitalize Trade: Since the North cannot grow adequate food, food must be brought to them. Increase subsidies for grain, and reduce the tarrifs and taxes on ships that transport foodstuffs, both foreign and domestic.

Decrease: Reputation.
I oppose decreasing population. First it feels bad :p. Second is people provide all the work, all the juice behind everything else. It provides our tax base, workforce, recruits. I can easily imagine a decreasing population causing a deleterious effect on all other attributes. (Though like if pop is high to everything else I’d say decrease it then.)
+1
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Man of Paper

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I think all the stats feed into one another equally, but you can still be a badass nation of badass badasses with a dozen dudes. Well, maybe that’s more a gang, but still. I’d rather avoid dropping reputation since we already put a regent with their own ambitions in, well, the regency. Hurting the child emperor’s legitimacy is speedrunning the loss of stability and downfall of plenty of dynasties.
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a1s

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Quote
Disaster Relief: Civilian Wellness And Relocation

With the people of the north facing some, uh, issues, the capital has deemed it necessary to expand the city through the construction of a new residential district to house citizens looking to live somewhere with food. Citizens of working age who move from the north to the capital are guaranteed employment in the Imperial Workforce if they are not an established tradesman or merchant.

Quote
Manual Decrease: Population

+1
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King Zultan

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Quote
Disaster Relief: Civilian Wellness And Relocation

With the people of the north facing some, uh, issues, the capital has deemed it necessary to expand the city through the construction of a new residential district to house citizens looking to live somewhere with food. Citizens of working age who move from the north to the capital are guaranteed employment in the Imperial Workforce if they are not an established tradesman or merchant.

Quote
Manual Decrease: Population

+1
+1
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The Lawyer opens a briefcase. It's full of lemons, the justice fruit only lawyers may touch.
Make sure not to step on any errant blood stains before we find our LIFE EXTINGUSHER.
but anyway, if you'll excuse me, I need to commit sebbaku.
Quote from: Leodanny
Can I have the sword when you’re done?
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